The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
